best place to live around leeds?

Hi Guys,
My family and I have decided to leave London and move up to Yorkshire, with Leeds being the base for work. My question is – where is the best place to live?? And why?? The only real consideration is that the commute to Leeds by trains should be no more then an hour. We have no other stipulations except we would like to make sure there is good riding literally on the doorstep :)
Places we have looked at so far are Darton, Fitzwilliam, Pontefract, Church Fenton, Sandal and Agbrigg, Mickelsfield, & Weeton. Any comments or suggestions??? Except ‘don’t move’ lol!

Rode through Weeton today , it’s a cracking place. Yeadon is nice as is only and the villages around there

If you’re going to be using the train then anywhere on the Skipton or Ilkley lines would have a fast and reasonably reliable commute into Leeds. Good riding as well and quick access to the Dales.

I know nothing about anything south of Leeds.

I live in Yeadon and there is cracking riding right on my doorstep but if you’ve got plenty of cash, look at Tranmere Park, Guiseley. It’s a 10 minute walk to the station and 20 mins into Leeds and the riding is just the same.

York is about 30 mins by train to Leeds.

Huddersfield! Next to Calderdale without having to live amongst Calderdale folk, 20 mins on train to Leeds, the Peak district is close too.

York is about 30 mins by train to Leeds.

How far to good riding?

Too far for good riding unless you own a road bike lol

Have you looked in Wharfedale yet?

Ilkley, Burley in Wharfedale & Menston all all great places to live and you can get into Leeds within 30 minutes by train or 45 mins by car. They’ve also got the added bonus of being on the edge of the city and close to the Dales, so the bikings pretty good too. :D

No good riding near York

For offroad I think its too flat for fun descents. Really have to get in the car for hairy stuff. Moors, Howardian Hills and the Wolds are close drives though.

But my side of York (Strensall) is brill for road rides. 75 mile round trip sees me into the NY Moors.

The places you have been looking are North East/East Leeds which although nice, are very flat!

North Leeds is ok, but head to West Leeds/North Bradford for the best on the door riding (in hills)

Wharfedale (on a train route to Leeds in 30mins) is very nice but expensive. Guiesley/Menston is nice, and on the same train line.

There is also a train line that runs right up the Aire Valley, within easy reach of Baildon (where I live) Bingley, Keighley (bit of a dump), Silsden, Crosshills, all the way to SKipton. Skipton is only 40mins or so from Leeds on the train

The Aire Valley does have bad traffic links and rush hour times from Baildon to Leeds centre at rush hour is 1 hr +

I’d certainly look at Baildon/Bingley/Guiesley/Menston for fantastic riding from your doorstep. Wharefdale is very nice, but expensive, and not as much great riding from your doorstep.

Hebden Bridge :)

Brighouse, Elland, Halifax.

did you really say Fitzwilliam? 8O
apart from Geoffrey Boycott the place has nothing going for it, other than that it’s on the way out of Kinsley ;-)

I work in Darton but I wouldn’t want to live there. It’s ok I suppose but there are nicer places.
Sandal is one of the nicer parts of Wakefield but Agbrigg isn’t; I think the station is more Agbrigg than Sandal TBH.

Question – whereabouts is work? And is it definitely a train commute? As that puts some nice areas out of reach (Shadwell, Alwoodley, Moortown, West Park, Bramhope, Otley, Pool in Wharfedale).

If you want good riding on the doorstep AND trains then I reckon the Airedale or Wharfedale lines are your best bets – Wharfedale line basically goes Leeds – (Apperley Bridge coming soon????) – Guiseley – Menston – Burley In Wharfedale – Ben Rhydding – Ilkley. Anywhere along this line would be good

Airedale line goes Leeds – Shipley – Saltaire – Bingley – Crossflatts – Keighley – Skipton and beyond to the Dales & Lakes. Shipley not so nice, Saltaire & Bingley nice, Keighley not so nice. Baildon is on a link line between Shipley & Guiseley – I live here & I really like it, some fantastic trails from the doorstep, as Funkydunc mentioned

Trouble with the areas mentioned, I.e. north Leeds are property prices are very very expensive, I’d be looking at somewhere near south Wakefield, Crigglestone, Durkar etc…….. Some fantastic trails right on the doorstep and only a 20 minute commute via (sandal & agbrigg) station

Trouble with the areas mentioned, I.e. north Leeds are property prices are very very expensive, I’d be looking at somewhere near south Wakefield, Crigglestone, Durkar etc…….. Some fantastic trails right on the doorstep and only a 20 minute commute via (sandal & agbrigg) station

If the op has a house in London, I don’t think thats gonna be much of a problem! :-)

No good riding near York

Not without a car, but I manage ok.

Dalby not that far. North York Moors, Yorkshire Wolds, Yorkshire Dales. All good and not far.

If the op has a house in London, I don’t think thats gonna be much of a problem!

Ahhhh, good point

I used to commute from York to Baildon. Drove through Otley and Menston. Was always impressed by the surrounding countryside. Can imagine all three would make a great base for planning from the house rides.

Wharfedale is loverly

Baildon… Otley and Menston. Was always impressed by the surrounding countryside. Can imagine all three would make a great base for planning from the house rides.

you’re not wrong :-)

steer clear of south leeds and wakefield…………they are both shyte holes.

30 mins by train
hebden/calderdale
huddersfield/holmfirth
ilkley/otley

all nice places.

All these post are excellent info, the main reason for train commute is the missus will have to work in leeds to continue with her career and does not drive.
Northeast leeds looks very nice, a quick look a prop prices makes it a bit of a strecth for us.
Missus has halifax on her mind as she thinks the house look village-y !!! I suppose this is a clue to what she is looking for!
For my self I am more focused on what me and my sons can do outdoors and recreactional wise, im very friendly and easy going so a good communinty would ideal.

3 bedroom house for sale in Greetland.

Sandal is a decent area good road links and cheaper than N Leeds. Train station is Agbrigg, 15 mins walk from Sandal proper. There are local trails about that might entertain for a couple of hours but you would have to drive to get a bit of decent mtb, peaks about 45 mins, Dalby about an hour and a half.

Darton, Fitzwilliam, Pontecarlo would not be for me (well were not when I migrated from London) the bit’s mentioned by Andydicko crig & durkar you would have to drive to the station (busy car park and not somewhere I would leave my car)

Greetlands nice. Did a ride from there years ago. Started at the scout hut I think.

Got to be neither

Skipton, crosshills, Charlton, around whose areas, Only 1/2hr from leeds on the train. nice places to live and on the door step to the gate way to the dales with loads of riding to do :D

Saltaire or Bingley. Riding is great and good real ale is easy to find. What more do you need!

Bradford post codes are much cheaper than Leeds post codes…apart from Ilkley.

Bingley is vfm and in the heart of great doorstep riding

<echo> Marsden…. :) <echo*>

Riding from door – check
Transport links to Leeds – Railway station – check. Right on the A62 – check
Family friendly – yep
Good pubs (incl. microbrewery) – Check
Good eating – we ‘need’ a curry house but otherwise, check
Sensible house prices – I reckon so… compared to London village, you’ll be laughing….

*i may have posted this reply before, just once or twice….

Halifax itself is not great, there lots more rough parts to nice parts of the town. Places around Halifax like greetland and stainland are nice though. I’m only going to say it once more, huddersfield is great. I’m not born and bred in these parts, so I’m not saying this out of some misguided, don’t-know-any-better kind of loyalty.

As someone who used to live in Guiseley and now lives in Cross Hills I can safely say that the riding from the door in Guiseley was *much* better, commuting to Leeds is also quicker and easier, but I much prefer it over this side of the hill.

Another thing to add is insurance costs seem to double if you have a BD postcode and live in West Yorkshire compared to a decent LS one. It’s fine in North Yorks though :)

Hudderfield is ace (born and bred, and I go back at least once a month)

Harrogate? (where I live now)

Hello fellow Harrogateonian. No *real* riding on our doorstep though.

But probably the nicest place to live in the area, with house prices to match.

Thanks very much everyone for the input, me and the missus will be focusing on the airedale line for places to live between baildon and burly wharfdale, guiseley seems to a big attaction at the moment.
Just out of interest why is shipley a no go as on paper it seems ok, is it a ethinic or chav
thing?

Shipley is just a bit chavvy and none descript. To be honest if your looking in Baildon/Bingley/Guiseley you will end up traveling through Shipley. Just call in to Asda Shipley on a Saturday to show you why Shipley isn’t the best place.

I’d also recommend the Aire valley, definitely look at Bingley. Station right in the centre 20 mins to Leeds, House prices are reasonable, 3 big parks, Bingley & Beckfoot Grammar Schools both get in the top 5. Bingley even has an indoor climbing wall now. Loads of great riding on your doorstep and set to get even better. canal access for riding to other local riding spots, short drive to loads more great riding (dales,calderdale etc). Within an hour you can be in most parts of the Dales, North Peak District, Even only 1.5 hrs drive will have you in the lakes or NY Moors. approx 2 hrs to Snowdonia or Scottish border

I thought all Asda’s were like that…

You seem to be heading in the right direction. In the grand tradition of recommending where you live, Skipton is a great little town.

Good shops and town centre, some excellent schools and parks, swimming pool, 40 mins to Leeds via train. We looked at various others – Otley, Ilkley, Bingley etc, but Skipton came out on top for us.

Excellent Dales riding pretty much out of the door.

Your Shipley query – bits are OKish, particularly on the Saltaire side, but there are stacks of not-so-nice estates, and on the whole it feels more like a suburb of Bradford, which isn’t necessarily what you should be looking for.

Good luck on your hunt – as long as you don’t stop the car in Keighley, you’ll be fine.